


Birth(day) of a Detective

by woodomatsu



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Birthday, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-07 20:17:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15915504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodomatsu/pseuds/woodomatsu
Summary: September 7th. It's Shuichi Saihara's birthday, but all he wants is for it to be a normal day. His friends, however, have other plans.





	Birth(day) of a Detective

Dawn broke on the 7th September. Shuichi Saihara stirred in bed as his 6am alarm blared loudly. Usually, he was up so early so that he could go jogging before work. Since the killing game concluded, he'd made a conscious effort to keep the flames of the training trio burning. However, today was a little different. As the 7th September happened to be his birthday, Shuichi was planning on doing absolutely nothing.

Still, now that he was awake anyway, he decided to make the most of his day. He threw on a pair of slippers and headed into his kitchen for coffee and breakfast. It was still 6.15 am, which is why he was surprised when his doorbell rang. Shuichi stood up and briskly walked over to his apartment door, opening it to reveal a familiar face.

"Shuichi! Happy birthday, bro!"

Kaito Momota. The Ultimate Astronaut. Together, they'd been through the worst the killing game had to offer and lived. For the most part.

"Oh...Kaito!" Shuichi was caught somewhat off guard. "I-it's Friday...we don't train on Fridays...right?"

"Uh, dude, did you not just hear me?" Kaito responded impatiently. "You think I'm gonna miss my best bud's birthday?"

"I-I appreciate it, really!" Shuichi insisted. "But still...why show up so early? I've barely gotten out of bed."

"Okay, for real? I couldn't sleep. I was way too excited about today, man!"

Shuichi stared blankly at his friend. "No offense, Kaito, but I find that incredibly hard to believe."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"You're wearing your training gear."

Kaito looked down, and mocked up an expression of shock. "Uhhh...well...most of my stuff's in the laundry right now and uhhh--you wanna go for a run?"

Shuichi sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes as he did so. "Let me finish my coffee and get dressed."

* * *

After ninety minutes of laboured running, the pair had finished their usual route. Shuichi sat down on the nearest bench to catch his breath. Kaito, meanwhile, was trailing behind ever so slightly. He caught up to Shuichi and plonked down onto the bench as well.

"Kaito, do you really think it's a good idea to push yourself like that?" Shuichi asked with concern in his voice. "It's a miracle you're even alive. Why risk stunting your recovery like this?"

During the killing game, Kaito had been claimed by a terminal illness, just before the tyrannical Monokuma was planning on executing him. However, the illness failed in its intended mission of killing him, instead forcing him into a coma that had fooled the show's organisers into thinking he was indeed dead.

"To be honest, I dunno," Kaito said, responding to Shuichi's question. "Guess it just feels right to keep the training trio going, y'know?"

"Oh! Speaking of the trio," Shuichi exclaimed, "shouldn't Maki be with us again? I bet she's beyond thrilled that you pulled through in the end."

"A-ah! Y-yeah...Maki Roll. She should uhhh...I guess we could...y'know..." Kaito was nervously scratching the back of his neck. It didn't take very long for Shuichi to deduce his oddly suspicious response.

"You...you haven't been to see her?!"

"Nope! Haha..." Kaito laughed nervously, a response quite unfitting of him. "Can you blame me, dude? She's terrifying!"

"Y-you're worried about how she'll react?"

"Worried ain't the half of it..." Kaito stared into space, his expression growing solemn. "What would all that big talk have been worth if she finds out I was alive the whole time?"

"Hey, that's no way to think about it," Shuichi consoled his friend, "she misses you, Kaito."

"Pfff...you're just sayin' that."

"Kaito...Maki is my best friend. I know almost everything about her. And...did you forget I was a detective? I'm not good for much...but I'm pretty good at deducing what a person's feeling."

"Ehhh...I'll get round to seeing her eventually, okay?" Kaito smiled. "For now, I just wanna enjoy my bro's birthday with him!"

"Haha, I appreciate it, Kaito. But I wasn't really planning on doing anything today."

Kaito stood up suddenly.

"Hey, Shuichi," he said, "if you could spend today with anyone...anyone at all. Who would that person be?"

"That's easy. Kokichi Ouma."

"Wh-what?!!" Kaito recoiled in shock. "Are you--"

"Relax, it was a joke," Shuichi smiled, although wryly so, "you already know what the answer is, Kaito. I just don't feel like saying her name."

Kaito sat back down, and placed a hand on Shuichi's shoulder.

"Oh, hey man," he said, "sorry to bring down the mood like that. I guess it doesn't get any easier, huh?"

Shuichi simply shook his head. "I've accepted it. I've come too long a way not to accept it. But of course I still miss her. It's not like we were lifelong friends or anything, but--"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, buddy," Kaito said sternly.

"H-huh?"

"It doesn't matter if you've known someone for a decade, or a day. If she really meant that much to you, then don't make excuses for yourself."

"Kaito..."

Kaito stood up again, offering a hand to Shuichi.

"Sorry to get all existential on you, bro. It's your birthday! We should be havin' fun! So, how about we grab some breakfast?"

Shuichi checked his phone. 9am. Come to think of it, he hadn't got a chance to finish his own breakfast this morning. He smiled and nodded at Kaito.

"Sure, breakfast sounds great!"

* * *

"How the hell did you manage to get a spare key for this place, Himiko?"

Maki Harukawa swung the door open to Shuichi's apartment. Thankfully he was still out on his run, which she had been banking on.

"That's a trade secret," Himiko replied pointedly, "you should know by now that only the inner circle of mages are privy to such information."

"Don't bullshit me, Himiko," Maki shook her head, having none of it, "you know how much of a recluse Shuichi is. Having a spare  _anything_ just isn't in his nature. Let alone a key to his apartment."

Sensing Maki was onto her, Himiko pivoted the conversation.

"Did you bring the decorations?" she asked innocently.

"Uh-huh," Maki nodded, "they're in my backpack."

Maki took the backpack off her shoulders, placed it on the floor and unzipped it, revealing its contents to Himiko. It was full of some pretty standard celebration decorum. Party hats, tinsel, and a couple of presents for Shuichi. It didn't take the both of them very long to apply the decorations around Shuichi's tiny apartment. The table had been laid out with a fancy, celebratory table cloth, as well as a large chocolate birthday cake acting as its centrepiece.

"Sure hope he likes chocolate," Maki muttered.

"Who doesn't like chocolate?" Himiko asked somewhat sincerely.

"Yeah. It was the safest bet. I still don't really know what his likes and dislikes are, and I'm his best friend."

"Maybe the two of you should hang out more," Himiko suggested, "oh! Or all three of us together!"

"I'd like that, Himiko," Maki smiled back, "but we've all got stuff going on now. Plus, we always just end up talking about the academy, anyway..."

"Yeah...even though we destroyed it, the memories will always haunt us, huh..."

"Heh, look at that," Maki caught herself in thought, "we're doing it right now. Why don't we do something until Shuichi gets back?"

"Sure. Like what?"

Maki scanned Shuichi's shelves for something to do. There were tons of novels, ranging from romance, horror, thrillers, to the expected classic British detective stories. The next shelf over hosted rows of DVDs. The same pattern of genres persisted here. Maki even spotted several adaptations of books she'd just seen on the previous shelf. Fed up of searching, she plucked a DVD from the shelf.

"Murder on the Orient Express..." she read aloud, "I remember Shuichi talking about this one. Said it's one of his favourites."

"Then let's check it out!" Himiko nodded. "I'm sure he won't mind if we use his TV."

* * *

Shuichi and Kaito returned to the apartment building. Tired from a long day's jogging and eating. The pair were about ready to call it a day, deciding to chill out and watch movies for the remainder of his birthday.

"3pm..." Shuichi panted, "why did I agree to running another 3 miles with you..."

"You did great, kid!" Kaito bellowed. "Sorry I had to hitch a cab to the finish line. Still recovering and all that, y'know."

"My frail body...was not built for this kind of torture..." Shuichi was about ready to collapse as he reached his apartment door.

He unlocked his door and swung it open, and was immediately startled by a couple of unexpected inhabitants.

"SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHUICHI!!!"

Himiko and Maki shouted at the top of their lungs, causing Shuichi to gasp and jump back. Not only had he never seen Maki this animated  _ever,_ he also had to deal with the fact that Kaito almost walked in with him. Shuichi subtly motioned for Kaito to step back for a moment. This situation would have to be handled with great care, lest Maki completely lose it.

"Th-thank you both, very much!" Shuichi bowed and smiled.

"I hope you like chocolate!" Himiko pointed at the birthday cake. There was a rather crude attempt at drawing Shuichi's face in icing along the top, most likely Himiko's doing. But it looked delicious regardless.

Maki handed Shuichi his presents. The first was a cute little Kiibo bobblehead.

"Something to remember our old friend by," Maki smiled.

"I love it, he's...very cute, isn't he?" Shuichi grinned back.

The second present wasn't quite so sentimental; a box of exotic chocolates from across the globe. Regardless, Shuichi was incredibly thankful, and the three exchanged jovial small talk for a moment. However, Shuichi had to quickly interject, and get to something a little more pressing.

"Maki, there's...actually something I have for you, too," Shuichi said, taking a deep breath.

"Oh? It's not my birthday, though," Maki rebutted.

"I-I know, but it's something you should see. Something important." Shuichi turned his head back to the apartment door. "You can come in now."

"Huh?" Maki was puzzled.

The door slowly opened once again. And in he stepped. Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut. Maki gasped, having to double, no,  _triple_ take at the sight unfolding before her. Trembling, tears quickly began to stream down her face.

"Is that...is that really you...Kaito?" Maki stammered, taking a couple steps toward him.

"All I can say is...I'm not as dead as I thought I was," Kaito replied, in the only glibly moronic way he knew how.

"But...your illness, the academy, you--"

Kaito placed a finger on her lips, encouraging her to not think about the gory details. She blushed, and the tears came back in full force.

"I was certain I'd lost you forever...and now...you just show up like...it's a miracle. This is a miracle."

Maki was right, Shuichi thought. Kaito's survival had been nothing short of a miracle. As Kaito and Maki embraced in a hug, Shuichi felt relieved that Maki's reaction had been less volatile than he'd assumed it would be. She sobbed quietly into his loosely worn jacket, insisting she was happy. Everyone there believed it. Finally, Maki was happy. Truly happy.

But this was Shuichi's birthday. It was his story. And the day had been remarkably bittersweet for him. He had his friends, and a greater celebration than he could have ever hoped for, no matter how small and unassuming it was. He had the people that mattered to him surrounding him. But that one person was still missing. The one person who encouraged him to never give up, and become the person he was today. He sighed and shook his head. He didn't want to let these thoughts intrude on his birthday. Right now, he was happy. He was happy to see his friends reunite. Maki was practically a new person, and Himiko was overjoyed seeing them together again.

* * *

After watching a few more movies and talking the day away, the group decided to call it a night around 11pm. They were all pretty exhausted from the day's revelations.

"This was quite a day, huh, Kaito?" Shuichi said.

"Heh, it sure was, pal," he nodded, "I was terrified Maki would've put me back in the dirt. For good this time. But you made it super easy for us to meet again. So I have to thank you for that, sincerely bro."

"It's the least I could do," the detective smiled.

"And hey, bro," Kaito continued, "I gotta go catch up with the other two but...just remember..."

"Hm? Remember what?"

"Remember that the impossible is possible!"

With that, Kaito waved one final time and turned to leave. Shuichi was left on his own. He sighed, and turned his back to the corridor, about to lock himself in for the night.

"All you have to do is make it so, right?"

Shuichi was stopped by a voice from the other end of the corridor. He slowly turned to face the out of place, yet utterly familiar voice. There's no way, he thought.

"You kept your promise for me, Shuichi. I thought it would only be right...that I returned the favour, y'know?"

The voice belonged to a blonde girl around Shuichi's own age. The girl looked a little worse for wear, covered in bandages and band aids, hastily hidden under baggy, casual clothes. Shuichi was utterly shook as he stared at her. If he thought Kaito had a snowball's chance of surviving, it had never even crossed his mind that  _her_ survival was even a slight possibility. Yet here she was. He wasn't dreaming - he'd already pinched himself to check.

"K-k--"

Shuichi couldn't even speak properly. He was stunned. He'd witnessed already the one miracle he thought he'd have in his life. And that was Kaito coming back. Now, barely a month on, a second miracle stood right in front of him.

"Kaede?"

"I-I know you'll have a lot of questions," she admitted, "and I know this is a lot to take in..."

If that wasn't an understatement. Shuichi was bawling out of control, completely unable to move or speak.

"Shuichi..." Kaede continued. "You look like you could use a hug. Can I...hug you? I'm still not fully healed up, but--OOF!!"

Shuichi suddenly sprang forward and tightly embraced Kaede. He was so lost without her. He didn't even think he deserved another miracle like this. There was no way she could have survived what she went through.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to...not squeeze so hard..." Kaede wheezed.

"Oh! S-sorry!" Shuichi sobbed, taking a step back to get another look at her.

Life had been especially cruel to both Shuichi and Kaede. Thrown into a killing game at the whims of a malicious society. Torn from one another in the most tragic way imaginable. But sometimes, Shuichi thought, life had a way of working things out. Not always so literally as bringing a person back from the supposed dead, but given how much Kaede meant to him, it definitely fit his example.

"I'm glad I made it in time for your birthday," Kaede smiled, as they sat in Shuichi's apartment.

"Y-yeah...sorry, I'm still kind of at a loss for words..."

Kaede explained that she knew everything. She knew she hadn't been a killer. She knew who was really behind the killing game. And she knew the lengths Shuichi and friends went to to see the show cancelled forever. But none of that was what caught Shuichi off guard...

"Kaito and I...actually ran into each other again at the academy," she explained. "I of course wanted to find you straight away but, you know Kaito..."

"He wanted to save you for my birthday," Shuichi sighed.

"Yes, that's right," Kaede chuckled. "Just what you'd expect from him, I guess?"

"Completely," Shuichi scratched his neck, "Kaito's an idiot, but he's an idiot with a heart of gold. I think that's why Maki likes him so much."

The pair sat in silence for a few moments, drinking in the utterly bizarre nature of the day. Kaede was the one to finally break the stalemate.

"Shuichi...do you...like me like that?"

The question had caught him off guard. He blushed intensely. He knew it was unreasonable to confess his feelings for her so soon, but he couldn't help himself. Every day since he escaped he'd been hoping to have another chance to talk to Kaede. He thought that was an impossibility. And by all accounts it should have been. Yet, it wasn't. Kaede was sat here right in front of him in the flesh.

"Heh, forget I said anything!" Kaede laughed, rousing Shuichi from his muddled thoughts. "I'm not stupid, Shuichi. We need time...to hang out and do stuff, y'know?"

"Y-yeah! Precisely!" Shuichi nodded. "But, can I make one thing very clear?"

"What is it?"

"I...want to spend as much time with you as possible," he blushed."You were--you're...you _are_ the most important person in my life, Kaede. I'm so,  _so_ thankful to have you back. You've just made the happiest day of my life a thousand times better!"

Kaede smiled brightly. "I think this will be the start of a beautiful friendship. Right, Detective?"

"Yes, uhh...Miss Pianist?"

Kaede couldn't hold back her laughter, much to Shuichi's embarrassment. "You're so lame, but that's what I love about you..."

"A-and...you're awfully direct but...I love that about you, too."

THE END

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Saihara! I thought I would do something nice for him in the only way I knew how; by writing a short little birthday story full of hope for him. Also please note this story is not related to the "After V3" fanfic I'm working on. This was just something nice to lift my spirits and hopefully it will have done for you, too! :)


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